Thinking on Scripture with Dr. Steven R. Cook

     Almost all Christians question, at some time, whether they are able to become unsaved after they’ve trusted Christ as their Savior. There are two major theological camps are Arminians (named after Jacob Arminius) and Calvinists (named after John Calvin). The former believe it is possible for the Christian to do something that will cause them to forfeit their salvation, while the latter believe that once a person is saved he/she will remain saved forever.

     At the heart of the issue is whether we understand salvation to be a work of man for God (either in whole or in part), or whether it is a work of God alone on behalf of mankind. It follows that if man contributes toward his salvation in any way, then it may be undone if he acts contrary to the character and will of God. If, however, salvation is the work of God alone, apart from any human effort, then God can keep one saved completely apart from human activity, good or bad.

     Scripture reveals that salvation is a work of God alone on behalf of mankind. God has done everything necessary to save eternally those who trust in Christ as Savior. God will discipline the Christian who turns to a life of sin, and though that Christian may suffer discipline to the point of physical death, he/she will never be in danger of forfeiting their eternal relationship with God.

     God is holy and completely set apart from sin. Scripture reveals, “Your eyes are too pure to approve evil, and You can not look on wickedness with favor” (Hab. 1:13; cf. Ps. 99:9; Isa. 6:3; 1 John 1:5). All of us are under the guilt of sin and helpless to save ourselves (Rom. 3:10-23; 5:6-10; Eph. 2:1-3). Further, good works have no saving merit in God’s sight (Isa. 64:6; Eph. 2:8-9; Tit. 3:5). Salvation is never what we do for God, but rather, what He has done for us through the finished work of Jesus Christ who died in our place and bore the punishment that rightfully belongs to us (Mark 10:45; 1 Pet. 3:18). Our salvation is conditioned on faith alone in Christ alone (John 3:16; Rom. 3:23-28; Gal. 2:16; Eph. 2:8-9). Once we trust in Christ as Savior, God’s righteous demands toward our sin are forever satisfied (Rom. 3:25; 1 John 2:2), we are forgiven all our sins (Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:13-14), imputed with His righteousness (Rom. 5:17; 2 Cor. 5:21; Phil. 3:9), and shall never face condemnation (Rom. 8:1; 31-34; cf. 1 John 2:1). The person who is born again has new life (John 10:28; Rom. 6:23), and just as there are signs of life in a newborn infant, so there will be signs of life in a new believer.

• "In Christian experience, assurance that one is saved by faith in Christ is essential to the whole program of growth in grace and in the knowledge of Christ. Assurance is a matter of experience and relates to personal confidence in present salvation. It should not be confused with the doctrine of eternal security, which will be discussed in the next chapter. Eternal security is a question of fact, while assurance is a matter of what one believes at a given time concerning his personal salvation. Assurance of salvation depends upon three major aspects of experience: (1) understanding of the completeness of the salvation provided in Jesus Christ; (2) the confirming testimony of Christian experience; (3) acceptance by faith of biblical promises of salvation."[1]

Understanding the Nature of Salvation

     God is holy and completely set apart from sin. Scripture reveals, “Your eyes are too pure to approve evil, and You can not look on wickedness with favor” (Hab. 1:13; cf. Ps. 99:9; Isa. 6:3; 1 John 1:5). All of us are under the guilt of sin and helpless to save ourselves (Rom. 3:10-23; 5:6-10; Eph. 2:1-3). Further, good works have no saving merit in God’s sight (Isa. 64:6; Eph. 2:8-9; Tit. 3:5). Salvation is never what we do for God, but rather, what He has done for us through the finished work of Jesus Christ who died in our place and bore the punishment that rightfully belongs to us (Mark 10:45; 1 Pet. 3:18). Our salvation is conditioned on faith alone in Christ alone (John 3:16; Rom. 3:23-28; Gal. 2:16; Eph. 2:8-9). Once we trust in Christ as Savior, God’s righteous demands toward our sin are forever satisfied (Rom. 3:25; 1 John 2:2), we are forgiven all our sins (Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:13-14), imputed with His righteousness (Rom. 5:17; 2 Cor. 5:21; Phil. 3:9), and shall never face condemnation (Rom. 8:1; 31-34; cf. 1 John 2:1). The person who is born again has new life (John 10:28; Rom. 6:23), and just as there are signs of life in a newborn infant, so there will be signs of life in a new believer. (Read pages 212-213)

The Confirming Testimony of Christian Experience

The new life that is in the Christian is manifest only in the one who is surrendered to God (Rom. 6:11-13; 12:1-2), living by faith (Gal. 2:20; Col. 2:6-7), filled with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18), and walking by means of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:16). The Christian who has surrendered to sin will manifest only those qualities of the sin nature (1 Cor. 3:1-3; 11:18-21; cf. Gal. 5:19-20), and may suffer divine discipline (Heb. 12:6-11), even to death (1 John 5:16; cf. Lev. 10:1-2; Acts 5:1-10). Whether the Christian is spiritual or carnal, he/she is in Christ (1 Cor. 3:1), and belongs to the family of God (Read page 214). Some of the manifestations of our new spiritual life include:

1. The knowledge that God is our heavenly Father (Matt. 11:27; John 17:3).

     Sanctification (Heb. קָדָשׁ qadash & Grk. ἅγιος hagios) means to be set apart for sacred use. In Scripture, it refers both to people (Ex. 29:21; 1 Cor. 1:2) and objects (Ex. 29:37). There are three aspects to sanctification with regard to persons:

1. Positional sanctification (Rom. 1:7; 1 Cor. 1:2; 6:11). In this sense, “Every born-again person is as much a saint the moment he is saved as he ever will be in time or eternity. The whole church which is His body is a called-out, separate people; they are the saints of this dispensation.”[1] Positional sanctification does not imply sinless perfection. The Christians at Corinth were regarded as “saints by calling” (1 Cor. 1:2), yet they were by no means perfect. They were guilty of childish quarrels (1 Cor. 1:11), carnality (1 Cor. 3:1-3), tolerating sinful behavior (1 Cor. 5:1-2), and selfishness and drunkenness (1 Cor. 11:17-21). (Read page 206-207)

The Means of Sanctification

     God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are all holy, eternally sanctified, set apart from sin. God the Father sanctifies us (1 Thess. 5:23), God the Son sanctifies us (Eph. 5:25-26), and God the Holy Spirit sanctifies us (2 Thess. 2:13). People may sanctify God (Matt. 6:9; 1 Pet. 3:15), and sanctify themselves (Rom. 12:1; 1 Pet. 1:15-16).

Steps to Sanctification

1. The Christian must be in daily submission to God (Rom. 6:11-13; 12:1-2). 

Four Aspects of Righteousness

• "A vital difference between God and man which Scripture emphasizes is that God is righteous (1 John 1:5), while the fundamental charge against man as recorded in Romans 3:10 is that “there is none righteous, no, not one.” So also, one of the glories of divine grace is the fact that a perfect righteousness, likened to a spotless wedding garment, has been provided and is freely bestowed upon all who believe (Rom. 3:22)."[1]

God is Righteous

     “This righteousness of God is unchanging and unchangeable (Rom. 3:25-26). He is infinitely righteous in His own being and infinitely righteous in all His ways.”[2]

The Self-Righteousness of Man

     Scripture reveals everyone is corrupted by sin and guilty before God (Gen. 6:5; 1 Kings 8:46; Ps. 130:3; 143:2; Prov. 20:9; Eccl. 7:20; Isa. 53:6; Rom. 3:9-23; 5:6-10, 12; Gal. 3:22; Eph. 2:1-3). 

The Imputed Righteousness of God

     Imputation is the Biblical teaching that one person can be charged/credited with something that rightfully belongs to another which is not originally his/her own. The word “imputation” is an accounting term used both in the Old Testament and the New Testament (Gen. 15:6; Rom. 4:3).  The Hebrew חָשַׁב chashab means “to impute, reckon to.”[3] The Greek λογίζομαι logizomai means “to determine by mathematical process, reckon, calculate, frequently in a transferred sense.”[4] Twice Paul uses the Greek word ἐλλογέω ellogeo (Rom. 5:13; Phm. 1:18), which means, “to charge with a financial obligation, charge to the account of someone.”[5] Paul tells his friend, Philemon, concerning his runaway slave Onesimus, “if he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge [ἐλλογέω ellogeo] that to my account” (Phm. 1:18). Here, Paul is saying that he will pay for any wrongful actions committed by Onesimus. 

     In Scripture there are three major imputations that concern our relationship with God:  First is the imputation of Adam’s original sin to every member of the human race (Rom. 5:12-13; cf. 1 Cor. 15:21-22). This means that every biological descendant of Adam is charged/credited with the sin he committed in the Garden of Eden which plunged the human race into spiritual death. Jesus is the only exception, for though He is truly human (Matt. 1:1; Luke 3:23-38), He was born without original sin, without a sin nature, and committed no personal sin during His time on earth (2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Pet. 2:22; 1 John 3:5). Second is the imputation of all sin to Jesus on the cross (Isa. 53:1-12; John 3:16; 2 Cor. 5:18-21; Heb. 2:9; 1 Pet. 2:21-24; 1 John 2:2). God the Father judged Jesus in our place (Mark 10:45; Rom. 5:6-10; 1 Cor. 15:3-4; 1 Pet. 3:18), cancelling our sin debt by the death of Christ (Col. 2:13-14; 2 Cor. 5:18-19). Third is the imputation of God’s righteousness to those who believe in Jesus for salvation (Rom. 4:3-5; 5:17; 2 Cor. 5:21; Phil. 3:8-9). God’s imputed righteousness, not human works, is the basis for divine acceptance.

Righteousness Imparted by the Spirit

     “When filled with the Spirit, the child of God will produce the righteous works (Rom. 8:4) of the ‘fruit of the Spirit’ (Gal. 5:22-23) and will manifest the gifts for service which are by the Spirit (1 Cor. 12:7). Thes

The Problem of Sin in the Life of a Christian

     The sin nature, sometimes called “the flesh” (Gal. 5:17, 19) or “old self” (Rom. 6:6; Eph. 4:22-24; Col. 3:9), is not eradicated from the believer during his time on earth, nor is it ever reformed, as though it can be made to love God. Because the sin nature is not removed from the believer after salvation, the believer experiences conflict within (Rom. 7:18-23; Gal. 5:16-26). Only the Christian has two opposing natures, and his spiritual growth guarantees internal conflict. The sin nature, though crippled at the moment of regeneration, does not give up control without a fight, and only the spiritually advancing Christian can overcome the power and habits of the flesh, as he devotes himself to learning and living Scripture and to walk by means of the Spirit.

Law as a Rule of Life

     The Mosaic Law functioned as the rule of life for God’s people living in a theocratic system. The Mosaic Law is typically viewed in three parts: 1) the moral law consisting of the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20:2-17; Deut. 5:6-21), 2) the civil law which addressed slavery, property rights, economics, etc., (Ex. 21:1–24:18) and, 3) the ceremonial law which addressed the tabernacle, priests, worship and the sacrificial system as a whole (Ex. 25:1–40:38). The Mosaic Law has been fulfilled by Christ (Matt. 5:17-18) and rendered inoperative as a rule of life for Christians (Rom. 8:2-5; 10:4; 2 Cor. 3:7, 11; Heb. 8:13).

Grace as a Rule of Life

     Paul made clear that the Mosaic Law is not the rule of life for the Christian. He even referred to it as a ministry of “death” and “condemnation” (2 Cor. 3:5-11). Paul stated that it was intended to be temporary (Gal. 3:19), that it was never the basis for justification (Gal. 2:16, 21; 3:21; cf. Rom. 4:1-5), but was intended to lead men to Christ that they may be justified by faith (Gal. 3:24). “As a rule of life, the Law of Moses was temporary … [and] came to an end with the death of the Messiah.”[1]

     The church-age believer is “no longer under law, but under grace” (Rom. 6:14; cf. Gal. 5:1-4). Being under the grace-system does not mean the believer is without law and can therefore sin as he pleases (Rom. 6:14-16; Titus 2:11-12). The New Testament speaks of “the perfect law of liberty” (Jam. 1:25), “the royal law” (Jam. 2:8), the “Law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2), and “the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:2). 

     The Christian is commanded to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts” (Rom. 13:14). He must not only choose to live according to the new nature in conformity to the Spirit’s guiding, but must also learn to starve his sin nature. To “make no provision for the flesh” means the Christian is to stop exposing himself to the things of the world that excite the flesh and lead to sinful behavior. The positive action is to grow spiritually with biblical teaching, Christian fellowship, worship and prayer so that the believer grows to maturity (Acts 2:42; Eph. 4:11-16; 2 Tim. 2:15; 3:16-17; 1 Pet. 2:2; 2 Pet. 3:18). It is only by spiritual growth and drawing closer to God that the Christian glorifies the Lord and learns to live in righteousness. It is a life of faith in God and His Word. 

 Victory by the Holy Spirit

     First, the victorious life starts with regeneration (1 Pet. 1:3, 23), as the be

Salvation From the Penalty of Sin

     The most common word for salvation in the Hebrew OT is יָשַׁע yasha (sometimes as יְשׁוּעָה yeshua) which means “deliverance, rescue, salvation, also safety, [and] welfare.”[1] Salvation in the OT was primarily physical, as one might be delivered from his enemy in battle or from a plague (2 Sam. 22:3-4; 1 Chron. 16:23, 35; Job 5:4, 11; Ps. 3:6-8; 44:4-8; 85:7, 9; 89:26; Isa. 17:10; 45:8; Mic. 7:7). In the NT the Greek verb σῴζω sozo refers to the act of physical deliverance in some biblical passages Matt. 8:25; 14:30; Mark 13:20; Luke 6:9; John 11:12; Acts 27:20, 31), and spiritual deliverance in others (Luke 7:50; 19:10; John 12:47; 1 Cor. 1:21; Tit. 3:5; Heb. 7:25).

Salvation as God’s Remedy for Sin

1. Sin is always equally sinful whether it be committed by the heathen or the civilized, the unregenerate or the regenerate (Rom. 3:9-10; Gal. 3:22).[2]

Salvation Before and After the Cross

1. The divine method of dealing with sin before the cross is said to have been by atonement, which word, in its biblical use, means simply “to cover.” The animal sacrifices were a temporary covering for sin, but did not remove sin (Heb. 10:4).[3]

The Three Tenses of Salvation

1. The past tense of salvation is revealed in certain passages which, when speaking of salvation, refer to it as being wholly past, or completed for the one who has believed (Eph. 2:4-9). So perfect is this divine work that the saved one is said to be safe forever (John 5:24; 10:27-28; Rom. 8:1).[4]

Salvation as the Finished Work of Christ

Jesus’ death is sufficient for all (John 3:16; Heb. 2:9; 1 John 2:2), but effective only for those who believe in Him as Savior (Acts 10:43; 13:38-39; Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:13-14).

Salvation as the Saving Work of God

• The saving work of God which is accomplished the moment one believes includes various phases of God’s gracious work: redemption, reconciliation, propitiation, forgiveness, regeneration, imputation, justification, sanctification, perfection, glorification. By it we are made fit to be partakers of the inheritance of saints (Col. 1:12), made accepted in the Beloved (Eph. 1:6), made the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21), made near to God (Eph. 2:13), made sons of God (John 1:12), made citizens of heaven (Phil. 3:20), made a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17), made members of the family and household of God (Eph. 2:19; 3:15), and made complete in Christ (Col. 2:10).[5]

Salvation as Related to the Sin

     The word sin is found throughout Scripture, and both the Hebrew and Greek share the same basic meaning. The Hebrew word חָטָא chata means “to miss the target, or to lose the way,”[1] and the Greek word ἁμαρτάνω hamartano is defined as “miss the mark, err, or do wrong.”[2] In Judges 20:16 the Hebrew word is used of skilled soldiers who do not miss their target, and in Proverbs 19:2 of a man who hurries and misses his way.[3] Sin is when we transgress God’s law and depart from His intended path. The apostle John states, “Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness” (1 John 3:4). “The teaching of Scripture is that sin is any want of conformity to the character of God, whether it be an act, disposition, or state.”[4]

• "The underlying idea of sin is that of law and of a lawgiver. The lawgiver is God. Hence sin is everything in the disposition and purpose and conduct of God’s moral creatures that is contrary to the expressed will of God (Rom. 3:20; 4:15; 7:7; James 4:12, 17). The sinfulness of sin lies in the fact that it is against God, even when the wrong we do is to others or ourselves (Gen. 39:9; Ps. 51:4)."[5]

     God permits sin, but is never the author of it. Sin is the expression of a creaturely will that is set against God. The sin we commit may be mental, verbal, or physical. It may be private or public, impacting one or many, with short or lasting results.

     Biblically, every person is a sinner in God’s sight. Jesus is the single exception.[6] We are sinners in Adam (Rom. 5:12; 1 Cor. 15:21-22), sinners by nature (Rom. 7:18-21; Gal. 5:17; Eph. 2:1-3; 4:22-24), and sinners by choice (1 Kings 8:46; Prov. 20:9; Isa. 53:6; Rom. 3:9-23). Sin separates us from God and renders us helpless to merit God’s approval. We are helpless to solve the sin problem and save ourselves (Rom. 5:6-10; Eph. 2:1-3).

[1] Ludwig Koehler et al., The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1994–2000), 305.

[2] William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 49.

[3] G. Herbert Livingston, “638 חָטָא,” ed. R. Laird Harris, Gleason L. Archer Jr., and Bruce K. Waltke, Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (Chicago: Moody Press, 1999), 277.

[4] Lewis Sperry Chafer; John F. Walvoord; Major Bible Themes (Grand Rapids, Mich. Zondervan Publishing, 2010), 178.

[5] Merrill F. Unger and E. McChesney, “Sin,” ed. R.K. Harrison, The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1988), 1198.

[6] Jesus, because of His divine nature (John 1:1, 14; Col. 2:9), and the virgin conception (Isa. 7:14; Luke 1:30-35), is the only person ever born without sin and who committed no sin (2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15; 1 Pet. 2:22; 1 John 3:5).

• "The early chapters of Genesis record the fall into sin by Adam and Eve. The various interpretations of this record either take it as a literal event explaining the sinfulness of the human race or attempt to explain it away as unhistorical or a myth. The orthodox interpretation, however, is that the event took place exactly as recorded in Scripture, and this is the way it is treated in the rest of the Bible."[1]

Adam Before the Fall

     Adam and Eve were created sinless and placed in the perfect environment God prepared for them. After their initial creation, God had declared everything “very good” (Gen. 1:31). The coupled represented the human race at that time. Adam and Eve’s rebellion against God introduced sin into the human race (Rom. 5:12; 1 Cor. 15:21-22).

     The record of Adam and Eve’s sin is set forth in Genesis 3:1-7. Satan, in the form of the serpent, approached Adam and Eve and enticed them to rebel against the only negative command God gave them, not to eat of the forbidden fruit (Gen. 2:17). Satan’s enticement started with a question about what God said (Gen. 3:1), which implied God was withholding some good thing from them. Eve’s reply modified God’s Word. “Eve in her reply fell into Satan’s trap by leaving out the word ‘freely’ in God’s permission to eat of the trees of the garden, and she left out also the word ‘surely’ in God’s warning. The natural tendency of man to minimize God’s goodness and to magnify His strictness are familiar characteristics of human experience ever since.”[2] Satan’s question to Eve turned to an outright contradiction in which he told her, “You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Gen. 3:4-5). The Bible then states, “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate” (Gen. 3:6).

Adam After the Fall

Adam and Eve’s sin resulted in far-reaching and long-lasting consequences.

1. They became subject to both physical and spiritual death (Gen. 2:17).[3]

The Effects of Adam’s Sin Upon the Race

     The sin of Adam and Eve brought immediate spiritual death, which means their relationship with God was severed. By grace, God restored their relationship by providing a sacrifice and covering, which they accepted (Gen. 3:21). However, Adam and Eve would live out their days with a fallen nature and in a fallen world. Adam’s sinful nature would pass to all his descendants and the effects of sin would become more and more obvious as time progressed. In Scripture we learn about several important imputations that concern our relationship with God: First is the imputation of Adam’s original sin to every member of the human race (Gen. 5:3; Rom. 5:12-14; cf. 1 Co

Man as a Created Being

     Apart from divine revelation, man has no ability to know his origin and speculations abound. The idea of evolution through natural selection—survival of the fittest—is the most prominent and prevalent theory today. Some hold to theistic-evolution, holding that God used the evolution of natural process to create man. But this denies the biblical record which plainly states God created the whole universe in six days (Gen. 1:1-31; Ex. 20:11; 31:17; Ps. 33:6; Neh. 9:6; Acts 17:24), and created man in His image (Gen. 1:26-27; 9:6; Deut. 4:32; Isa. 45:12; Matt. 19:4; Jam. 3:9). Mankind is God’s crowning creation, which He authorized to rule over His work (Gen. 1:26; Ps. 8:3-9). God created the universe and earth in six literal days and created everything with the appearance of age.

The Nature of Man

     The creation account reveals that man was created with both material and immaterial qualities (Gen. 2:7; Eccl. 12:7; Matt. 10:28; 2 Cor. 4:16). The immaterial parts of man—soul and spirit—are sometimes used interchangeably (John 12:27 and 13:21), and sometimes distinguished (1 Thess. 5:23; Heb. 4:12).

     There are two major views of the continued creation of man: 1) the Traducian theory believes that the body and soul are passed from parent to child at conception (Gen. 5:3; Heb. 7:9-10), and 2) the Creation theory argues that our body comes from our parents, but God creates each new human soul at conception and imputes it to the biological life in the womb (Ps. 100:3; Eccl. 12:7).

     The body is the residence of the soul (Gen. 2:7), which is removed at physical death (Eccl. 12:7; 2 Cor. 5:1-8). The body is also where the sin nature resides, in both saved and unsaved persons (Rom. 7:17-20). And, the body of the Christian is also the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19).

[1] Lewis Sperry Chafer; John F. Walvoord; Major Bible Themes (Grand Rapids, Mich. Zondervan Publishing, 2010), 165.